This proposal requests five year support for a symposium entitled "Recent Advances in the Immunology and Biochemistry of Tropical Diseases". The next symposium which will be held at Meharry Medical College, Nashville, Tennessee, on Monday and Tuesday, April 10 - 11, 1995 will be entitled "Molecular Biology of Tropical Diseases:" International Health: The goals of these symposia are twofold: (1) To discuss current research on the organisms which cause tropical diseases; (2) To stimulate minority students towards postgraduate education in molecular biology, biochemistry and biomedical sciences. The symposia will be sponsored by the School of Graduate Studies and Research and the Division of Biomedical Sciences at Meharry Medical College. As part of this conference, undergraduate and graduate students from historically black colleges and universities will be encouraged to attend and present posters on research that they are undertaking in various laboratories and discuss ongoing research at our institution. The symposium will include six invited lecturers in various areas in tropical diseases covering areas such as African trypanosomiasis, schistosomiasis, malaria, leishmaniasis, leprosy and Chagas disease. Ample time will be available for discussions. The symposium has been held each year since 1984 with leaders in the field of tropical diseases presenting and has stimulated the enrollment of minority students into biomedical sciences graduate studies.